The Right to Life Everyone born into this world inherits the fundamental right of life. However in the life that all humans have the right to, the freedom to choose death is arguably just as significant. In the last century, advancements in medical technology have made physician assisted suicide a prominent, easy, and highly controversial way to end a person’s life. Since a doctor can administer an euthanization to end a person’s life so easily, it’s ethics have been called into question. There must be certain conservative aspects of culture that humans must preserve and as such, euthanasia or physician assisted suicide should not be legalized in Canada. Morally, euthanasia is wrong, it puts to risk the most vulnerable social groups, …show more content…
However, even this is too much power in the hands of doctors and other medical staff. One could suggest: “Is it possible for a strict system to be instigated in Canada, that is highly selective of who can give and who is eligible for the treatment?”. The events that happened in Belgium, though, is enough to shut that idea down. In Belgium, it is illegal for nurses to perform euthanasia, but a 2010 survey in the northern region of Flanders, showed that 12% of nurses have performed the act. The vast majority also did so without the presence of a physician nearby. In cases where the patient never specifically asked for euthanasia, 45% of the cases we carried out by the nurses. The current law in Belgium about who can and cannot administer the life-ending drugs is being broken. Likewise, the laws in the Netherlands are being ignored as well. Euthanasia is technically still outlawed today, according to Dutch Penal Code Articles 293 and 294. However through various court decisions, many doctors have gotten around these articles, and are allowed to perform euthanasia if they follow guidelines. One of which is: “The death request must be voluntary.” However, a study done by Remmelink Report revealed 1,040 people died from involuntary euthanasia in 1991. The ineptness of enforcement to keep doctors within the boundaries of law is one of the reasons the recent Quebec euthanasia law is being challenged. The new law, scheduled to be in effect in December of 2015, will legalized euthanasia in Quebec. Not only will this law violate s.7 (life, liberty, and security of the person) and s.15 (equality rights) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms it is also outside of the provincial jurisdiction. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition stated on the Quebec
Assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial issue all over the world, and it leads to debate as to whether or not an individual should be allowed to decide the moment and form of one’s death, along with the
Anyone can be diagnosed with a terminal illness. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are, who you are, or what you do. Some terminal illnesses you can prevent by avoiding unhealthy habits, eating healthily, exercising regularly and keeping up with vaccinations. However some terminally ill people cannot be helped, their diseases cannot be cured and the only thing possible to help them, besides providing pain relieving medication, is to make them as comfortable as possible while enduring their condition. Many times the pharmaceuticals do not provide the desired pain escape, and cause patients to seek immediate relief in methods such as euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of deliberately ending a life in order to alleviate pain and suffering, but is deemed controversial because many various religions believe that their creators are the only ones that should decide when their life’s journey should reach its end. Euthanasia is performed by medical doctors or physicians and is the administration of a fatal dose of a suitable drug to the patient on his or her express request. Although the majority of American states oppose euthanasia, the practice would result in more good as opposed to harm. The patient who is receiving the euthanizing medication would be able to proactively choose their pursuit of happiness, alleviate themselves from all of the built up pain and suffering, relieve the burden they may feel they are upon their family, and die with dignity, which is the most ethical option for vegetative state and terminally ill patients. Euthanasia should remain an alternative to living a slow and painful life for those who are terminally ill, in a vegetative state or would like to end their life with dignity. In addition, t...
Euthanasia has been a long debated subject consisting of many opinions and believes. For this paper I will be providing my rationale on why I am for legalization of active voluntary euthanasia for terminally ill clients in Canada. Active voluntary euthanasia should be legalized because it respects the individual’s choice, it allows individuals to flourish in their passing, and reduces the individual from further suffering. These are all important components of bioethics, and are all good reasons why euthanasia is not a negative thing. Active voluntary euthanasia is “the active killing of a dying person” requested by the client themselves (Collier & Haliburton, 2011, p. 226). In the paper I will also be discussing about virtue ethics, the principle of autonomy, and care ethics.
Euthanasia is the act of ending a person’s life through lethal injection or through the removement of treatment. Euthanasia comes from the Greek word meaning “good death.” When a death ends peacefully, it is recognized as a good death. In modern society, euthanasia has come to mean a death free of any pain and anxiety brought on through the use of medication; this can also be called mercy killing, deliberately ending someone’s life in order to end an individual’s suffering. Anything that would ease human suffering is good. Euthanasia eases human suffering. Therefore, euthanasia is good. Because active euthanasia is considered as suicide or murder, it is a very controversial issue and therefore, illegal in most places. Although there are always
First, it is not lawful. According to Canadian law it is a crime. For instance, the criminal code section #241 part b) states that anyone who assists in suicide whether complete or incomplete is guilty for indictable offense, resulting in 14 years of imprisonment. It is also not permitted by the Canadian Medical Association. For example the Canadian Medical Association policy specifically states that “Canadian physicians should not participate in euthanasia.” Furthermore, the physician should not cause death intentionally because it “is fundamentally incompatible with the physicians’ role as healer and caregiver.”Therefore, euthanasia is seen as a crime by two laws committees, national and medical.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is one of the guiding moral documents of Canada, which states, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, 1982) In the opinion of the Supreme Court, current law infringes upon section 7 and this means that the ban on assisted suicide unjustly and immorally denies the human right to life and liberty and therefore, it is immoral to ban physician-assisted suicide outright. Law and ethics are closely related and often what is legal is ethical and what is illegal is unethical. (American Medical Association, 1994) Denying a mentally competent and terminally ill patient the right to a quick, painless and dignified death would be blatantly disregarding the foundational medical principal of autonomy. This would also make sense from a libertarian standpoint, as the person would be able to live their life the way that they want to with almost no harm to others. Research shows that doctors often agree with physician-assisted suicide and believe it is the moral choice especially in cases where the patient is terminally ill and has no treatment options
We believe all people have the freedom to make choices in their life, however, the question posed today is whether we have the freedom to choose our death. Some say absolutely. We should have the freedom to decide how we spend our last days. If they’re filled with pain, debilitating, and cause hardship on our loved ones, we should have the right to opt out. Others take the view that we didn’t choose our birth, therefore our death isn’t ours to choose either. This has caused much debate as moral, ethical and legal ramifications come into the mix. This in turn has led to defining the process under two different terms for legal purposes. They are euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Internationally, assisted suicide is a doctor prescribing
Is it Against the Law to Help Someone Else Commit Suicide? . (2013). Retrieved from FindLaw: http://healthcare.findlaw.com/patient-rights/is-it-against-the-law-to-help-someone-else-commit-suicide.html#sthash.2Rg28YAQ.v2hYML0G.dpuf
Euthanasia is the fact of ending somebody’s life when assisting him to die peacefully without pain. In most cases, it is a process that leads to end the suffering of human beings due to disease or illness. A person other than the patient is responsible for the act of euthanasia; for example a medical provider who gives the patient the shot that must kill him. When people sign a consent form to have euthanasia, it is considered voluntary, involuntary euthanasia is when they refuse. When people are not alert and oriented they are not allowed to sign any consent including the consent to euthanasia. When euthanasia is practiced in such situation, it is a non-voluntary euthanasia. In sum, people who practice voluntary euthanasia in honoring other
Doctors prefer to never have to euthanize a patient. It is a contradiction of everything they have been taught for a doctor to euthanize someone, because a doctor’s job is to do everything in their power to keep the patient alive, not assist them in suicide. The majority of doctors who specialize in palliative care, a field focused on quality of life for patients with severe and terminal illnesses, think legalizing assisted suicide is very unnecessary. This is due to the fact that if patients do not kill themselves, they will end up dying on a ventilator in the hospital under the best possible care available, with people around them trying to keep them as comfortable as possible. Legalized euthanasia everywhere has been compared to going down a slippery slope. Officials believe that it could be done over excessively and the fear of assisted suicide numbers rising greatly is a great fear. This is why euthanasia is such a controversial subject worldwide. But, even though it is a very controversial subject, euthanasia is humane. Every doctor also has a say in whether or not they choose to euthanize a patient or not, leaving only the doctors who are willing to do this type of practice, for euthanizing patients. Medicine and drugs prescribed by a doctor for pain or suffering can not always help a person to the extent they desire, even with the help of doctors
The topic of euthanasia and assisted suicide is very controversial. People who support euthanasia say that it is someone 's right to end their own life in the case of a terminal illness. Those in favor of this right consider the quality of life of the people suffering and say it is their life and, therefore, it is their decision. The people against euthanasia argue that the laws are in place to protect people from corrupt doctors. Some of the people who disagree with assisted suicide come from a religious background and say that it is against God’s plan to end one 's life. In between these two extreme beliefs there are some people who support assisted suicide to a certain degree and some people who agree on certain terms and not on others.
Thus, despite the arguments against euthanasia, patients’ lives should not be deprived of well-being, comfort or dignity. “In the last stage of life, every person is entitled to a high standard of care and a stable environment in which his or her privacy is respected” (Policy Options, 2013). A lot of the time, patients with terminal illnesses are thought of as ‘better off dead’ or ‘not the person they used to be’. This is all the more the reason why euthanasia should be legalized in Canada. The government should relax current laws and allow doctors to participate in assisted suicide if need be and are willing. If people suffering with terminal illnesses want to die peacefully and not endure painful procedures or live off machines whilst also helping society out money wise, the option should be available.
Today, medical interventions have made it possible to save or prolong lives, but should the process of dying be left to nature? (Brogden, 2001). Phrases such as, “killing is always considered murder,” and “while life is present, so is hope” are not enough to contract with the present medical knowledge in the Canadian health care system, which is proficient of giving injured patients a chance to live, which in the past would not have been possible (Brogden, 2001). According to Brogden, a number of economic and ethical questions arise concerning the increasing elderly population. This is the reason why the Canadian society ought to endeavor to come to a decision on what is right and ethical when it comes to facing death. Uhlmann (1998) mentions that individuals’ attitudes towards euthanasia differ. From a utilitarianism point of view – holding that an action is judged as good or bad in relation to the consequence, outcome, or end result that is derived from it, and people choosing actions that will, in a given circumstance, increase the overall good (Lum, 2010) - euthanasia could become a means of health care cost containment, and also, with specific safeguards and in certain circumstances the taking of a human life is merciful and that all of us are entitled to end our lives when we see fit.
The right to life has been a subject of controversy for decades. We can mention it when we talk about abortion, the death penalty, and simply by a natural process we allow such as the simple act of natural birth of a baby. Whether a life is worth living? and whether to assist the act to end a life? Has been one of the most controversial subjects among the religious communities and the society. According to the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies reported on its website in the document "Physician-Assisted Suicide Survey," (accessed on Oct. 27, 2006), "Religious identity correlates with attitudes toward the ethical status of assisting in suicide. Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Jews believe in the majority that it
Williams, J. R., Lowy, F., & Sawyer, D. M. (1993). Canadian physicians and euthanasia: 3. Arguments and beliefs . Ethical Issues, 10, 1699-1702.